Last month the Fraser-Fort George Regional Hospital District board approved a 19.7 per cent increase to the hospital boards property tax requisition for 2023.
On March 23, the hospital board approved a $21.27 million tax requisition for this year, up by $3.5 million from 2022, according to a report to the hospital board. The hospital board shares the same boundaries as the Regional District of Fraser-Fort George and is governed by members of the regional district board of directors.
“The 2023 amount is based on a residential uniform tax rate increase of $0.05 as outlined in the 2022 – 2036 Financial Plan and will be approximately $0.7354 per $1,000 of assessed value of the 2023 Completed Roll,” regional district general manager of financial services Chris Calder wrote in his report to the board. “For 2023, the tax on an average residential home in Prince George valued at $449,618 is estimated at $330.65.”
The tax increases are part of the hospital board’s plan to cover its share of two major expansions planned at the University Hospital of Northern B.C. in Prince George, estimated to cost a combined $660 million. The hospital board is typically required to pay 40 per cent of the cost of hospital-related capital projects.
In 2021, the hospital board’s tax requisition rate was $0.6354 per $1,000 of assessed value, and rose to $0.6854 per $1,000 in 2022. The hospital board’s long-term financial plan calls for annual four per cent increases each year from 2024 until 2036.
The regional hospital board’s total tax requisition has grown from $5.8 million per year in 2015 to $17.77 million per year in 2022.
In Prince George, the City of Prince George collects property taxes on behalf of the Regional District of Fraser-Fort George and the Fraser-Fort George Regional Hospital District, along with school taxes and other property taxes for other provincial agencies.
